The Victory Day parade on Red Square went ahead this year without tanks for the first time since 2008, the hardware replaced by giant screens and mobile internet shut down to block Ukrainian drones. Wikistrat surveyed eight leading Russia specialists on whether Putin's grip is genuinely fracturing or just visibly strained. The panel's verdict: erosion is real, rupture is not, and the one variable Western policy cannot touch may matter most.

Six weeks after his elevation, Iran's new Supreme Leader has still not been seen or heard. So who is making the decisions? Wikistrat surveyed eleven senior Iran specialists on Tehran's ruling core, the rise of the IRGC under Vahidi, and where the Islamabad talks can realistically land.

Wikistrat surveyed eight leading Gulf security experts on how Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar will respond to the US-Iran deal taking shape. The panel converged on Hormuz as the defining red line and on a three-year regional arms race if missile limits are excluded, and split sharply on whether Riyadh goes nuclear.